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| VOL. 20 | NOVEMBER, 1929 | No. 8 |
| Page | |
Editorial, Stanwood Cobb | 227 |
Self-interests the Cause of War, ’Abdu’l-Bahá | 229 |
The Basis of Bahá’i Belief, Chapter 1—Introduction, Keith Ransom-Kehler | 230 |
Albania and the Destiny of Europe, Martha L. Root | 234 |
Psychology from the Spiritual Standpoint, Ella Goodall Cooper | 240 |
For Love of Me, Marzieh K. Nabil | 245 |
Signs of the New Age in Japan, Agnes B. Alexander | 248 |
How We Became Esperantists, Japanese Twin Sisters | 251 |
Calendar Simplification, Mariam Haney | 253 |
From Balconies of Thought, a Poem, Willard P. Hatch | 256 |
later co-operation of Dr. Zia M. Bagdadi; preserved, fostered and by them turned over to the National Spiritual Assembly, with all valuable
assets, as a gift of love to the Cause of God.STANWOOD COBB | Editor |
MARIAM HANEY | Associate Editor |
MARGARET B. MCDANIEL | Business Manager |
Subscriptions: $3.00 per year; 25 cents a copy. Two copies to same name and address, $5.00 per year. Please send change of address by the middle of the month and be sure to send OLD as well as NEW address. Kindly send all communications and make postoffice orders and checks payable to Baha'i News Service, 706 Otis Building, Washington, D. C., U. S. A. Entered as second-class matter April 9, 1911, at the postoffice at Washington, D. C., under the Act of March 3, 1897. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103 Act of October 3, 1917, authorized September 1, 1922.
--PHOTO--
His Majesty King Zog I of Albania (See page 234).
| VOL. 20 | NOVEMBER, 1929 | NO. 8 |
of the earth may become one race, all the countries one country and that all hearts may beat as one heart, working together for
perfect unity and brotherhood.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.SO NEAR ARE the majority of thoughtful men to the concept of world peace, says President Butler of Columbia University, that no individual ventures now to make public any opposition to this ideal nor can statesmen who oppose it stay long in power.
The peace ideal has certainly gained ground enormously in the last decade. It is the theme which next to aeronautics most dominates the newspapers, which sensitively reflect current public interest. Countless books and magazine articles deal with this concept in one form or other, and the various peace organizations—each with their own specialized publications—enlist the earnest cooperation of memberships aggregating millions.
In spite of all this display of interest, enthusiasm, desire for universal peace, there remain certain deep-seated causes of war which while they continue to prevail will unfortunately frustrate the world’s will to peace.
Much that has been provocative of war in the past, enlightened nations have now outgrown.
War for the sake of religious rivalries and animosities, war for pure plunder either of goods or of territory, or war for the mere satisfaction of national pride and vanity,—such wars become more and more unthinkable as the world’s leading
nations—in retrospective wisdom–reflect upon the horrors and prolonged costs of Armageddon.
There is, however, one deep-seated cause of war which is far more powerfully operative than all the peace opinion that any nation can at present muster; and until this cause is dispelled the volume of peace idealism–no matter how great–will be ineffective when put to actual test.
I refer to the habit of thought of all nationalities, of putting national interests first—to the sacrifice, if necessary, of any or all other nationalities.
Nationalism, a larger development of the tribal instinct, not only makes paramount the interests and welfare of the homeland–a natural and perhaps fundamental need; but in so doing, tends to be utterly regardless of the interests and welfares of all other peoples.
It is this selfish and negative aspect of nationalism which is the chief remaining cause of war. And not until people rise to a larger, more liberal, and more humane concept of nationalism will war be abolished.
For no matter how many Leagues for peace exist, so long as the world’s great nations express prevailingly the attitude, “My nation first, regardless of the needs of others,” war will break out whenever
any given nation–in asserting this aggressive and too exploitive form of the national will-to-live–runs counter to the similar will-to-live of another nation.
UNQUESTIONABLY, the world’s will-to-peace must be erected on the solid foundation of inter-national understanding, sympathy, and well-wishing. All men must come not only to perceive but also emotionally to feel a larger than national brotherhood; to the extent that they would not wish their own nation to unduly prosper at the expense of any other nation.
“Am I my brother’s keeper” is a query which nations, as well as individuals, must now earnestly ask themselves.
Already enlightened nations have the rapidly growing habit of expressing in a helpful and concrete way their sympathy for other nations in distress. This practical humanitarian sympathy, as best exemplified in the Red Cross, is perhaps the finest aggregate expression of the human soul which this planet has yet witnessed.
But such sentiment, evoked by suffering, is not enough. It deals effectively with wound-binding, but does not yet enter the field of causation.
The help given by America to Italy at the time of the Messina earthquake, and to Japan in their similar terrible catastrophe of 1923, was noble in concept and in quantity. Such benefactions exert a tremendous influence toward good-will between the nations concerned.
But such beneficence, with the mutual sympathies and appreciations involved, are not sufficient.
Each nation must, in addition to this, seek to refrain from national measures needlessly offensive or even harmful to other nationalities.
There must be a constructive all-pervading sympathy, intelligent enough to be cognizant of the injurious results to other nations of any proposed nationally self-interested measure; and deep enough—when injury to other peoples is apparent—to refrain so far as possible from such activity.
WE HAVE NOT yet reached the Millenium; and it is useless to ask of any nation that it prefer itself to suffer, than to be the cause of suffering to other nations. But at least we can make a beginning of thinking in world-terms rather than in terms only of national self-interest. And we can aim at dealing justly with other nations in the sense that real justice would require each nation to remit somewhat its desire and aim to get richer and more prosperous through measures, whether political or economic, which directly operate to make other nations poorer.
This represents a moral height to which—if the writer is not mistaken—humanity has not yet risen nor consciously aspired to rise. Yet to this height mankind must rise before warfare can become eliminated from our planetary affairs.
Such a concept of world brotherhood must spring from the spiritual potentiality and capacity of man to love others as himself. This positive quality of love—not only as between individuals but also as between peoples and nations—must become the leaven to give life to the splendid materials for peace already being assembled in the conscience of humanity.
RIVALRY between the different races of mankind was first caused by the struggle for existence among the wild animals. This struggle is no longer necessary, nay rather, interdependence and cooperation are seen to produce the highest welfare in nations. The struggle that now continues is caused by prejudice and bigotry. Today nothing but the power of the Divine Word, which embraces the reality of all things, can draw together the minds, hearts and spirits of the world under the shadow of the heavenly tree of unity.”
IN these days there must needs be a mighty power of accord instilled into the nations. The principle of the oneness of the world of humanity must be proclaimed, understood and put into practice so that all nations and religions may again remember the long forgotten fact, that they are all the progeny of primordial humanity, Adam, and the denizens of one land. Are they not breathing one air? Is not the same sun shining upon all? Are they not the sheep of one flock? Is not God the Universal Shepherd? Is He not kind to all? * * * If the people are emancipated through One Spirit, there is not a trace of doubt but that the greatest bond of union and harmony will be established among them.”
SELF-INTEREST is at the bottom of every war. Greed, commerce, exploitation, the pushing further of the boundaries of the kingdom, colonization, the preservation of the treaty rights, the safeguarding of the lives and interests of the citizens,—are a few of the pretexts of going into war. And it has been proven by experience that the results of war are ruinous, both to the conquerors and the conquered. * * * But in this luminous century the greatest bestowal of the world of humanity is universal peace which must be founded so that the realm of creation may obtain composure. * * * Like unto a spirit, this ideal must run and circulate through the veins and arteries of the body of the world.”
What is the nature of a Prophet or Manifestation of God who becomes the Founder of a great religion? Are such Mediators necessary between the Divine Essence and humanity? If so, why? And how can humanity be assured of the validity of Prophethood on the part of those who claim its allegiance in that name? None sincerely interested in religious truth can be indifferent to these pregnant questions which lie at the basis, which concern the very essence of the claim of religion to the allegiance of the human heart. These questions are answered with great clarity and effectiveness in a series of articles by Mrs. Ransom-Kehler of which this is the first.
“In this day he who seeks the Light of the Sun of Truth must free his mind from the tales of the past, mast adorn his head with the crown of severance and his temple with the robe of virtue. Then shall he arrive at the ocean of Oneness and enter the presence of Singleness. The heart must become free from the fire of superstitions that it may receive the Light of Assurance and that it may perceive the Glory of God.”-Bahá’u’lláh.
APPARENTLY there is something of inestimable value to God in having men recognize, independently, the Manifestation of His Power and Glory whenever He appears in the world. This, according to the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, which are clearly upheld by the evidences of history, is subject to the same periodicity as natural phenomena.
For, to paraphrase the figure of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, just as the phenomenal sun returns from year to year in order to resuscitate and revivify the dead physical life of the world, so from age to age a great Sun of Truth and of Righteousness appears to germinate and fructify the dead spiritual life of man.
In truth the whole world of nature
is, as it were, an illustration or a reflex of this sublime Cycle which is the life and light of man: the return of spring, the diastole of the heart, the coming of day, the flow of the tide, the inhalation of the lungs—are but the pattern of His Divine Action stamped everywhere upon His creation.
Each Great Prophet Who has ever appeared in the world has covenanted with His followers concerning His Successor; there is no religion which does not definitely hold out this assurance to its followers:–that God will again send One to succor, to guide and to save men.
Perhaps the most curious example of human blindness and perversity is the consistent way in which we scorn, reject and persecute God whenever He thus reveals Himself to us. For if Almighty God the Eternal Power and Life and Law and Wisdom of these vast interpenetrating universes, each in itself complete, perfect and incomprehensible-if Omnipotent Principle would reveal Itself in any manner that could be apprehended by the weak, finite mind of man, we could never see more of God, know more of His nature, observe more of His power, nor draw nearer to Him
in love and assurance than is possible through this Mighty Being Who returns to us from age to age, the Eternal Messiah, “the continuing Christ,” the Ever-Present Word of God, “He whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
In the terminology of Bahá’u’lláh this great life-giving Messenger Who reveals the Will of God to man, is He who expresses all of God that human beings can ever grasp and need ever know: therefore He is called the Manifestation of God.
Now although the followers of every Manifestation and the adherents of every religion have been taught to look for the reappearance of the same Majestic Authority that already holds sway in their lives, the signs of His coming are universally misleading.
If Moses and the Prophets had said, “In a certain year in the reign of Augustus Caesar, a woman of such descent and a man of such other ancestry journeying from Nazareth to Bethlehem will there greet their first born: He is My Successor; follow Him,”—how simple such an arrangement would have been; what suffering and tragedy it would have obviated, beheading, stoning, rending by wild beasts, imperial bonfires of human victims; not only the hideous variety of martyrdom, but the crucifixion of the “Holy One and Just,” the humiliating and degrading death of the common malefactor for Him without Whom “was not anything made that was made, Who came unto what was His own but His own folk did not welcome Him.“*
However, this procedure evidently
* John 1:10-11.
does not conform to the spiritual requirements. On the contrary it would seem as if every device were used to blind and mislead men with regard to the Divine Identity of the Manifestation. According to prophecy Jesus was to sit upon the throne of David, rule with a rod of iron, cause the lion and the lamb to lie down together; in short, so extravagant were the claims made for Him that when a peasant announced His candidacy for these exalted positions the Jews speedily rejected Him on the basis (amongst other things) that He did not fulfil the prophecies.
Today we see in the light of His accomplishments a Supreme Monarch to Whom earth’s greatest kings and potentates bow in obeisance.
It becomes clear to us as we observe this unhappy drama reenacted in each succeeding dispensation, that some vast purpose, some inscrutable cause is subserved by having men voluntarily and in spite of every obstacle penetrate “the clouds of His Glory,” those external obstructions and disqualifications that seem to hide the Sun of Truth, and find an Eternal Reality in this superb Being whenever He appears; sometimes a peasant, sometimes a prince become a beggar, sometimes a camel-driver elevated to the most exalted human power, sometimes, as in the case of Bahá’u’lláh, a nobleman, descendant of a royal dynasty, conquering from a fetid prison the vast domains of East and of West.
To see—behind the peasant, the beggar, the king, and the prisoner—that aloof serenity of ageless Omnipotence
that no assemblage of men, even combining to assist one another, can long deny or withstand: to see this station of God made manifest is a privilege of which few avail themselves at the moment when they are most needed; but inevitably before His Throne Eternal in the Heaven nations and peoples seek sanctuary when the clouds of human blindness roll back and the Sun of Reality reaches the meridian of His effulgence.
There is no evidence, for example, that more than a score of people continued to believe in Jesus at the time of the crucifixion. That was too great a test of faith for any but that tiny handful who had been baptized in His Love and immersed in His Favor. And still the teeming millions of the Roman Empire were powerless eventually, to cope with the impulse set in motion by this preferred band of simple, ignorant, unknown men and women: for in them lay the germ of spiritual life, the power to fructify and produce seeds—and they alone possessed it. ’Abdu’l-Bahá says that five grains of wheat are worth more than a thousand tons of weeds.
Why should not we today, with all the revealing light cast upon the workings of the inner life of man by subliminal psychology; by a better understanding of crowd reflexes; by the welding of history into one single instrument whereby our group processes are more clearly grasped; why should not we be able to discount all the tragic and costly mistakes of the past and severing ourselves from the prejudices and inhibitions that blind and mislead us, approach with clear, inquiring
minds this stupendous Bahá’i claim: that Bahá’u’lláh in this great Day of God has returned to renew His Ancient Covenant with man; to make low every mountain (removing by His inclusive social program the obstacles to human understanding and cooperation) to exalt every valley (inculcating the practice of those virtues that are neglected by the strong and proud) so that all the trees of the field (mankind) may clap their hands?*
The great religions of the world without exception teach exactly the same great fundamental truths: the Oneness of God and the Oneness of Mankind. At this time they all expect the coming of a Promised One: The Brahmins await the twelfth incarnation of Vishnu; the Zoroastrians (Parsis) the coming of Shah Bahrom; the Jews their Messiah; Buddhists the fifth Buddha; Muhammadans the Imam Mahdi; Christians the return of the Effulgence of the Christ. In each prophecy the coming One will unite the nations, spread the principles of peace and of brotherhood, inaugurating an era of spiritual progress.
Naturally it is incredible that if each of these expected Manifestations returns severally there could be any more unity or understanding amongst religions than exists at present. He Who will unite the hearts of men, Who will establish that great ideal Kingdom in the lives and practices of men as taught by all the religions of the world, can be but One; One Who will fulfil all the prophecies, uphold all the sacred and blessed teachings of the religions of the past, identical in
* Isaiah 55:12.
their import and in their influence; will possess that latent Power always infused into men by the Manifestation which lifts them to higher levels of aspiration and achievement and creates anew in withered lives and stagnant minds that inexhaustible fecundity which produces new heavens and new earths.
Presenting this majestic claim of the station and purpose of Bahá’u’lláh, the Bahá'i teacher is confronted with three or four typical objections. If the audience be Christian the first reaction is, “Why should we accept any other Manifestation than Jesus? He is sufficient.” If Unitarian, in any of its aspects, “Bahá’u’lláh has exerted an admirable influence, but He is, like Jesus, a man of unusual personality;
nothing more than an exceptional human being.” If influenced by the modern cults, “What do we need with a Mediator; why not go to God direct?” And finally, most important of all, “We have been warned against false prophets; how can we be sure that Bahá’u’lláh is not one of these?”
Therefore it is my intention in a series of articles to answer these apparently legitimate confutations, exhibiting the signs and proofs and evidences of the validity and divine authority of the Bahá’i Claim.
“The doors of the Kingdom are open,” and in this hour of restitution Bahá’u’lláh summons us again to the spiritual order of life, whose paths are pleasantness and whose ways are peace.
“Verily we should consider the Divine Prophets as the intermediaries, but mankind has made use of them as causes of dissension and pretexts for warfare and strife. In reality they were the intermediaries of love and reconciliation. If they were not sources of love and fellowship amongst men, then undoubtedly they were not true, for the divine wisdom and purpose in sending the Prophets was the manifestation of love in human hearts. Therefore we must investigate reality. First of all let us determine whether these Prophets were valid or not by using rational proofs and shining arguments, not simply quoting traditionary evidences, because traditions are divergent and the source of dissension.”
In a series of two articles the well known journalist and Bahá’i teacher, Martha Root, describes a country little known to Americans. The Albanians, however, as the author states, have played an important part in the history of southeastern Europe. The Editor has had occasion to visit Durazzo mentioned in this article; and counts as one of the finest characters of his acquaintance a Turk of part Albanian ancestry whose grandfather was an important Sheik of the leading Bektashi monastery in Constantinople, a remarkable sect of the Muhammadans which the reader will find described in these articles.
ALBANIA, this country which is so little known, may perhaps hold the destiny of Europe. If she can become a Switzerland or a Holland, if during her evolution to this, there is tranquility in the state and if neighboring countries will refrain from greedily grabbing what is not their own, then a serious European conflict may be averted. Albania is the arsenal of the Balkans and a match touched to it would blow up Europe.
The Great Powers and the League of Nations created the present Albania as an independent state in 1912. His Majesty Zog I, King of the Albanians, is the most able man to be at the head of this little country with its present one million inhabitants. This new state is now playing and will certainly for the next few decades continue to play a very interesting role in international politics.
The Albanians are the oldest nation in Europe but their country is the least known. Before King Zog I came upon the scene less than ten years ago as a young Albanian Napoleon, this land was spoken of as the “mysterious country,” “land of miracles,” “unknown Albania,” “darker than dark Africa” and there was a reason for this. For five hundred years its language was forbidden in the schools, books in
Albanian were not allowed. Indeed for two thousand years the world has witnessed the determination of this remarkable race to hold to its nationality. Truly it merits attention for its deathless struggle and for the opportunity it may give to preserve peace and a status quo in the Balkans.
Albania has the master key position geographically to the Near East. It has been fought for by the Jugo-Slavs under the patronage of Russia. It has been sought by Italy to give her security and a land-locked sea. It is envied by Austria and Hungary and Germany their neighbor. It is the territory that obsesses the thoughts of Greek diplomats. It commands the very shortest route between western Europe and Constantinople, Syria and Palestine.
The Romans saw its advantages and built the Via Egnatia road, that historic road from Constantinople through Salonica, on through Albania to the coast city of Durazzo. This is the road that the Apostle Paul took, and in Durazzo we know he preached Jesus Christ to the inhabitants. (That his faithful teaching bore rare and beautiful spiritual Albanian fruits will be shown later in this article.) This Via Egnatia ended at Durazzo but by ship one could cross the thirty-seven
--PHOTO--
Mr. K. Kotta, Prime Minister of Albania and Minister of the Interior
and a half miles across the Adriatic Sea to Otronta, Italy, and there began the Via Appia road leading directly on to Rome.
Albania, a country with approximately 17,000 square miles, is not so large as West Virginia and is about twice as large as Massachusetts. Mr. Charles C. Hart, American Ambassador in Tirana, said the day the writer lunched at the Embassy, “There is not a safer country in Europe to travel in than Albania.” On the table in the drawingroom lay a bound volume of the school magazine “Laboremus” of the Albanian Vocational School founded by the American Junior Red Cross and the writer opened to these words which was a quotation from Kelly: “Albania, a tiny country of glorious sunshine, brilliant moonlight, deep blue skies. bright stars, old white mosques and
gleaming minarets; silent cypress trees, Venetian towers and Roman ruins, mountain ranges white in winter, broad valleys with unscratched virgin soil, calm lakes hidden by hills, a coast line with rocky shores and harbors–Durazzo where Cicero spent his exile and Robert Guiscard led the Norman Conquest, Valona of Shakesperian fame,—a brave people, primitive in life with romantic customs and gorgeous national costumes. This is Albania.”
Perhaps the tourist asks: “How does one get to Albania? How can he travel when he does get there if there are no railroads? And what are the principal cities?” Travellers can come from Trieste, Bari and Brindisi, Italy across the Adriatic Sea to Durazzo, the seaport nearest to Tirana which is now the capital. Durazzo a city of six thousand inhabitants is also reached by ships coming down the east Adriatic Coast touching at the Jugoslavian ports of Ragusa, Dubrovnik and others. There is aeroplane service regularly from Rome, Trieste, Brindisi to Valona–the most strategic port in the Adriatic Sea.,—and on to Tirana. There is also regular aeroplane service between the different Albanian cities: There are motor cars driven daily from one city to another, but good roads are only beginning to be built in Albania. There is a good road from Durazzo to Tirana and a railroad is being built between these two places. The leading cities are Scutari, Tirana, Korcha, Valona, Durazzo, Alessio, Arghyrocastro, Berat, Elbasan, Delvina and others.
Arriving by ship to Durazzo, one takes an automobile to go the twenty-six miles to Tirana. There
is constant motor car service and one pays according to the number of passengers. Usually the cars are crowded. If one takes a car alone, he pays for six places. The road is beautiful and thrilling for it leads up the mountains, sometimes curving ledge upon ledge. Hardly any place in the Balkans is more fascinating than these Dajti mountains. One will find Tirana in its physical setting at least, a playground of heaven. It is like a little plain close to the sky surrounded on all sides by these low alluring mountains glowing in such darkly vivid colors. The mists or the atmosphere or something give them a halo, a spirit which seems always to be hovering just above them. No one with a soul can ever visit Tirana and in after years not long to return and feel again the charm of these mountains.
The city itself with its 30,000 inhabitants where six years ago it had only 10,000 and was a very ordinary desolate town with a few little Turkish inns, is having a phenomenal growth. It gives one the impression of a modern city being made before one’s very eyes. Everywhere buildings are being constructed and Tirana is stretching out. Some new government buildings and the American Legation’s new headquarters a group of three architecturally lovely buildings seem to be quite out of the heart of the city, but one sees that very soon they too will be in the centre, for Tirana must expand very much to house the people who are coming there. Tirana is chosen as the capital because it is in the centre of the country. The King can govern best from this place and
also the mountain city away from the seacoast can be better protected. It is more healthful than the coast city of Durazzo which is surrounded by malaria breeding swamps. However the Albanian Government and the Rockefeller Foundation are working to rid Albania of malaria.
Look from my window, O reader, at 5:30 o’clock this morning. The mountains are so glorious in the fresh glow of dawn. They are deep rich blue as if the sky had embraced them and left its mantle flung across their peaks. Below in the work-a-day world many drivers of donkeys walk beside their beasts of burden and on these donkey’s backs hang great packs of cooling-green watermelons. “Whoever will eat so many watermelons?” you wonder, but when you see the many hundreds of soldiers and the work-men rising up like sand clouds to carry the plaster or dig foundations, or hammer, or make more roads, you will realize there are not too many watermelons for this August day with a temperature of 100° Fahrenheit.
Now TO SPEAK about the moulders
of inner Albania: the writer called
first upon Mr. Kota Kotta who is
both Prime Minister and Minister
of Interior. He is charming, keenly
intelligent. Like his beloved King,
he is young. He said: “The chief
aim of His Majesty our King Zog I
is world peace. There is no other
way for Albania to achieve her high
destiny except through world peace.
Our King wishes progress and education,”
and he explained how hard
the King is working for a stable and
just government, for education, for
woman’s advancement and better living conditions.
When the writer asked the Prime Minister about the King’s deep love for his mother and if he consults her often on state matters, Mr. Kotta replied: “Yes. The King says he owes his position and his honors to his mother. He trusts his mother and believes in her judgment.” The Prime Minister added that wherever there is a good mother, one generally finds sons who have good education and good character. It may be said that King Zog I entrusted to his mother the direction of the whole Mati tribe during the early months of the first revolution when he was fighting in other regions, and she did her work gloriously. He is the hereditary head of the famous Mati Tribe that had its great Princes in the middle ages, and this was also the tribe of Scanderbeg the great savior of Albania in the fourteenth century. (The name Scanderbeg comes from the surname ”Iskender-Beg” which the Turks gave him for his valor and masterful strategy, and in complimentary reference to Alexander the Great.) Scanderbeg has been the hero of the Albanians and their very loved King, their last King for five hundred years until September first, 1928. It is psychologically clear that His Majesty Zog I can do far more in Albania as King than he could do as President. The masses in Albania do not understand presidents and republics so well, but a twentieth century king who may be even greater than Scanderbeg appeals to their hopes and to their loyalty. The country will be more settled under a kingship than it would be
with political presidential rivalries springing up every few years.
THE WRITER HAD the unique honor
and privilege of an audience with
His Majesty Zog I King of the Albanians
on Sunday, September first,
1929 in the Royal Palace in Tirana.
It was the occasion of the second
anniversary of his being crowned
King. Of the group of twenty
women presented there were a few
relatives of the King, other members
of the aristocracy of Albania,
some members of the feminine club,
“The Albanian Woman,” of which
Her Royal Highness, Princess Sinia
Zogu, sister of the King, is honorary
President, and the one foreign
guest.
We were received in the chancery in the offices of the Prime Minister, at ten o’clock and the writer was introduced to these splendid women as a Bahá’i. She gave a little speech in which she expressed her admiration and love for Albanian women and their work, and her joy that in Albania she saw such friendliness and cooperation between people of all the religions; it was astonishing to see this rare harmony. She also spoke of the beauty and gracefulness of Albanian women, their fine character and the remarkable hospitality of all Albanians.
The festivities for this anniversary had begun the day before. Smiling happily and singing, the Tiranians had decorated their city with laurels from the mountains. Everybody was glad and contented. People dressed in their artistic national costumes had come from the mountains, the towns and the cities. Since 7.30 o’clock that morning the Royal Band had been playing at
intervals and the regiments of soldiers, well dressed, with perfect step and shoulders straight and high, had led the great procession through the two main avenues. The crowds were well-mannered and deeply interested. Aeroplanes circling the city shot down thousands of gay posters wishing long life to the King.
Promptly at eleven o’clock, we were escorted from the chancery to automobiles and motored the short distance of two blocks to the Royal Palace entrance. Thousands of spectators stood respectfully in the streets and in the Royal Driveway. The Royal Band in red uniforms played the Albanian National Anthem; soldiers in gun-metal-grey uniforms stood, every man with his hand on his gun and his eye fixed at attention. We went through the garden up the marble steps and on past the guards whose gold braid gleamed in the brilliant sunlight. We passed through the hall, the diningroom, the library where in each of these royal apartments stood a group of statesmen to greet us. Then we were led into the great salon and there at the farther end of this beautiful receiving room his young Majesty Zog I King of the Albanians stood in state. Tall and very slender, he was simply dressed in his military uniform. There was no gold lace, no velvets, but he looked a King! a soldier King! He was very alert, very bright, very noble, very young to carry the heavy responsibilities of being head of this Balkan Kingdom on which the eyes of the world are turned. In a semi-circle about him stood his faithful fine Ministers of State dressed in full evening dress.
His Majesty Zog I is a man of tremendous character, and the strongest individuality in Albania. Few men would be able to meet the situations which he has faced and conquered. His Majesty Zog I King of the Albanians is the guarantee of the peace. One would not like to vision the chaos that would come if anything happened to him.
“T’u ngjat jeta!” which means “Long life to you! “was heard everywhere that morning. The writer spoke only one word to His Majesty in the solemn moment when he took her hand. It was: “Besa-besen!” translated from Albanian it means “I pledge you my loyalty!” As a Bahá’i I have given my word of honor to be “Albanian” in my faithful friendship to this new kingdom. O reader, you would need to come to Albania to know what this word means, but if you are ever extended the “bessa” by Albanians, you will see what a beautiful custom it is. It goes so far that though a person might forgive an injury to his father, his mother, his children, he would never forgive the one who violated the “bessa” which has been extended to a friend in their land.
After passing out from His Majesty’s presence we were taken again in the automobiles half a block to the Royal Palace of the Queen Mother of the King. In the first drawingroom we met the five sisters (the sixth sister was away). These Royal Princesses were very pleasant. They are doing their best to help their country. They have the manners of the heart which is the most lovely courtesy of all.
Never to be forgotten was the presentation to the Queen Mother
who received alone in the larger drawingroom. She was all in black and her two grandsons, about sixteen and eighteen years old (who study in Geneva, Switzerland) stood in full military uniform beside her. She was beautiful in her motherhood, so strong, so sincere, so good! She looked just what she is—a Queen Mother! She did not impress me as one who cares for frills and exteriors, but she is the kind of woman you would love to have near you in joy and in sorrow, in health and in sickness till the end of the world. She is spiritual, she is understanding.
His Majesty the King is thirty-five years old and in October his thirty-sixth birthday will be celebrated with a magnificant ceremony. Film directors from Paris
have asked to come and make moving pictures. His dear mother is about sixty years old. The King’s two married sisters are older than he.
Editors Note—To Baha’is there is a strong appeal in the destiny of these little nations which have for centuries suffered the injustice of suppresion of all native literature and thought and freedom. This, as Baha’u’llah taught is the day when justice shall be done and all injustice shall be removed, and in the remarkable recrudescence of so many submerged minorities into recognized nationalities, we find signs of the dawn of the New Day of international justice and peace. What is needed next is that these little nationalities and races recognize themselves as so intrinsic a part of the world program that they do not impose their nationalism as obstructive to the larger brotherhood which will be expressed in the coming civilization when the continents will no longer be cut up into hundreds of artificial customs and barriers and national isolations. The concluding article will appear next month. It deals with the religious and spiritual aspects of the country and people.
“Those kings and rulers whose fame for just government and greatness filled the world did not occupy themselves alone with their personal ambition and the acquirement of riches, but accounted the public weal awed the increase of the inhabitants of their countries and the general treasury as their greatest care. Their glory was not bought with gold or silver, but was purchased by the soundness of their principles and the nobility of their aspirations. Such are those rulers who are benevolent and wise, whose dignity and real happiness lie in the well being of the public . . .“
We, as Bahá’is, approach the study of psychology as we do every other science which is helpful to humanity, since one of our cardinal principles is that in this day science and religion must work hand in hand in order to bring to pass that spiritual civilization which is the goal of all true education. “Study the sciences,” says ’Abdu’l-Bahá, “acquire more and more knowledge. Assuredly one may learn to the end of one’s life. Use your knowledge always for the benefit of others.”
“Know thyself,” enjoined Socrates, without, however, revealing any method of going about it. Nevertheless, the precept still holds good, and extends to knowing one’s neighbor, since “the proper study of mankind is man.” To the Bahá’is this popular interest, far from being improper, is encouraging, for it is a token of people’s interest in one another, which interest we believe will grow and grow till all come to recognize the truth of Bahá'u’lláh’s saying, “This handful of dust, the earth, is one home.”
In sharp contrast to the popular superficial and often selfish applications of psychology, are the earnest endeavors, profound and beneficent, of the conscientious psychiatrists and physicians, patiently working to unravel the intricate threads of maladjusted lives, using the valuable technique contributed by the psycho-analysts, to bring education
to the normal, and relief to the abnormal, members of society.
To these men, Janet, Freud, Jung, Adler and others, society owes a debt, which is ever growing, as the efforts, particularly those of Dr. Adler and his colleagues in Vienna, are being extended to cooperate not only with medical men but also with the educator and social welfare worker, and we ardently hope the circle may soon widen to include the enlightened and scientifically-minded religionist, as well. The efforts of this group are directed toward prevention of abnormal conditions through education, rather than merely the relief of the tragic situation after it has been allowed to arise. Is not this the object of spiritual education also?
One of the most distinguished of this group, whom we have lately had the good fortune to meet in America, is Dr. Alfred Adler of Vienna, whose psychology is a method of gaining knowledge of individuals, including knowledge of their inner life, and is founded upon a view of the individual as a whole in himself, an indivisible unit of human society. Thus, while it has grown up as a part of psycho-analysis, individual psychology only uses analysis for the purpose of synthesizing the whole life of the individual.
I have borrowed the above information from Dr. Adler’s exponent and interpreter, Philippe Mairet, and will quote a few lines from the
same source, “The supreme importance of this contribution to modern psychology is due to the manner in which it reveals how all activities of the soul are drawn together into the service of the individual, how all his faculties and strivings are related to one end. We are enabled by this to enter into the ideals, the difficulties, the efforts and discouragements of our fellow-men, in such a way that we may obtain a whole and living picture of each as a personality. . . . There has never before been a method so rigorous and yet adaptable for following the fluctuations of that most fluid, variable and elusive of all realities, the individual human soul.”
It is precisely because all religions, and the Bahá’i Revelation in particular, have something vital to say on the subject of this same elusive soul, that I have chosen to consider this adaptable method of Dr. Adler as being most closely paralleled by the Bahá’i teaching.
To the followers of this teaching it is always gratifying to witness how such great and progressive men are unconsciously reflecting the Spirit of this Age. Dr. Adler touches on problems deep and far-reaching, applying his principles to many spheres of life as well as to the art of healing, problems which we believe can be solved by the “sovereign remedy” brought by Bahá’u’lláh, the Divine Physician, for the healing of the nations. Thus it seems to me to be peculiarly fitting, in pursuance of one of His basic teachings—namely, religion must conform with science and reason—that we, as Bahá’is, should hasten to unite our efforts with those altruistic scientists whose services
are being devoted to the amelioration of the enormous burden of mental misery that afflicts humanity to-day.
RELIGION, AS SUCH, seems to find
scant favor at the hands of the
psychologist, partly, perhaps, because
many of the cures, for which
religion in the past has claimed the
credit, seem to him explainable
upon a psychological basis, or, perhaps,
because his experience with
religious manias has been provocative
of impatience for the whole
subject, or, perhaps, because he
feels religion has lost its ancient
potency, or, perhaps, because he regards
it not with the eye of faith,
but as one seeking scientific truth.
Dr. Overstreet seems to dismiss it with a shrug, saying that many religionists are not really humanists, and that, “Religion, like a good deal of the rest of our life, needs at last to concern itself with real human beings.” He refers, as do most scientists and educators, to orthodox religion or theology, but that is not what the Bahá’is mean by religion.
Speaking scientifically, perhaps the great point of connection between psychology and religion, is that essential longing, which is present in all human creatures, the longing for individual immortality. Although science has demonstrated the indestructibility of matter, yet the actuality of that mysterious realm beyond this life has not been proved by any returned traveler, and man has recourse only to faith if he is to believe what the Prophets have always taught, and what mankind in general wishes to believe—that it is indeed the real life of the
indestructible soul, for which this brief span of years here is but the preparation.
The Bahá’i teachings on this point give comforting assurance to sustain the seeking soul, at the same time appealing to reason and inspiring faith. We believe that faith in immortality and belief in spiritual realities influence conduct profoundly, and mould character to noble ends, and that one of the reasons why so much mental disturbance is painfully evident in the world, is the apparent failure of religion to set forth a unified, convincing and authoritative truth, freed from man-made dogmas and creeds, which will aid struggling humanity to grapple with the overwhelming problems of this complex, bewildering age. Our belief is that the Bahá’i Cause does recognize and satisfy just that universal, crying need.
And to my mind, a most important point of contact between the Bahá’i teaching and that of Dr. Adler is their common conviction of the fundamental “oneness of humanity.” It quite thrills me to quote his declaration: “We cannot escape from the net of our own relatedness. Our sole safety is to assume the logic of our communal existence upon this planet as an ultimate, absolute truth, which we approach step by step, through the conquest of illusions arising from our incomplete organization and limited capabilities as human beings.” And is not the mission of the Bahá’i Movement to unite all the races of the world?
ANOTHER POINT or contact is education. Dr. Adler speaks of it repeatedly.
He advocates psychology as the “human science” which should be studied by laymen as well as by specialists, and shows that even the study of the abnormal is necessary to gain an understanding of normal processes (since the difference is only one of degree). He also states that the object of this education of the normal human being and the re-education of the abnormal one is the same—to fit both for a better understanding of human nature, and to develop the social feeling, because man is a social being, not to be considered as separated from human society, but one who must learn to take his place as an integral part of it.
Of course we agree heartily with Dr. Adler that human nature is capable of being educated, moreover that education must begin with the individual child from the moment of its birth, in order that its “behavior pattern” may be correctly and happily set.
’Abdu’l-Bahá shows us that education to be complete should be both material and spiritual, in other words, it should be for the heart as well as the head. The Abbe Dimnet reminds us that Vauvenargues says, “Great thoughts arise from the heart,” and Joubert, “There is no light in souls in which there is no warmth.” Hence, to the old question, “can human nature change?” we would answer in the words of Dr. Esselmont, a distinguished English physician and Bahá’i teacher: “Both education and religion are based upon the assumption that it can and does change. In fact, it requires but little investigation to show that the one thing we can say with certainty about any
living thing is that it cannot keep from changing.”
WHAT HAS ALL this to do with modern psychology, you may ask? We earnestly believe that that “science of humanity,” as Dr. Adler calls it, can be of still greater value as a healing factor in dealing with disorders of the mind when it becomes touched and illumined by a vital, dynamic religion such as taught by Bahá’u’lláh, Whose appearance is the Sun of Truth in this day.
The vibrations caused by this new influx of spiritual power has brought into being many new schools of thought, numbers of which are concerned with the healing and re-education of suffering and maladjusted humanity. As we have noted, psychology itself has advanced until it has become an important instrument in the hands of the best modern physicians—for it is acceptable to many who will not listen to the worn-out dogmas and creeds of religion, as such, and yet whose needs demand something more than the science of materia medica alone. In this respect the rise of these movements, even though they be only pseudoscientific, has contributed to the whole ministry of medicine.
The Bahá’i ideal of the physician of the future might be of special interest here. ’Abdu’l-Bahá says that the physician of the future must be a man scientifically educated and trained, in order to be a skillful diagnostician of disease (to know whether it be of mental or physical origin) and, in addition to this knowledge, he must be imbued with such a love of God, such a love for humanity, such an intense desire to
serve humanity, that his very presence in the sick room will be like healing to the patient. In this day, when disorders of the mind have spread over the world almost like a plague, physicians surely need to use both spiritual and material means of healing, ever striving to find the perfect balance.
AS REGARDS MAN’S social development, Dr. Adler stresses again and again the necessity of early education in order to fix the life pattern of the child by habit, which becomes conduct, and eventually crystallizes into character. He always regards man as a social being and each individual soul as being motivated by the conscious or unconscious striving for a “goal.”
It is evident then, in order to assist the souls to fit into their environment and function happily and cooperatively with their fellow beings, some kind of a worthy plan is necessary by which to guide their lives and develop their social feeling; and when ignoble goals are discovered, altruistic standards need to be substituted, and if they can be joyous, so much the better. “Joy gives us wings,” says ’Abdu’l-Bahá.
The Bahá’í teaching, upon the same basis of human evolution, offers a magnificent social program, because it is universal, constructed upon the corner stone of the unity of the whole human family; not only that, but in its re-statement of the eternal verities, it is marvelously adapted to the complex needs of evolving humanity in this new and wonderful age.
Progress is so rapid these days that the next generation may have to develop new and different powers
in order to endure the high vibrations of our mechanistic civilization.
Professor Meredith made the same statement that I heard recently made by Doctor Ray Lyman Wilbur, to the effect, that to-day the speed of life is so terrific that man’s moral and spiritual consciousness has not yet caught up with the extraordinary rapidity of the material or external changes, thus causing a dislocation so fraught with danger that man stands aghast at the products of his own inventive genius and power, not knowing how to cope with these new dangers that threaten to overwhelm him.
Thoughtful minds cannot but realize that unless man can somehow be educated to encompass these inventions and possess them for constructive service to society, they will surely possess him and destroy the world. Therefore, the education of youth to a realization of the truth that we are our “brother’s keeper,” based upon science and reinforced by the spiritual dynamic of real religion, is the only hope of the future, if civilization is to be saved.
Bahá’is believe that the social program, revealed by Bahá’u’lláh and elucidated by ’Abdu’l-Bahá, gives to humanity the solution of these stupendous problems.
In addition to the glorious basic principles, Bahá’u’lláh advocates certain universal institutions for service to all mankind, as well as giving certain vital precepts for the guidance and purification of the individual life. How noble is His concept of a temple—called in the Persian, Mashriqu’l-Adkar, which means something far greater than merely a temple or church, something,
indeed, for which we have no equivalent in English. His concept is that in every city there should be built a group of buildings set in a large and beautiful garden; the central building—its doors always open in welcome to all comers—to be the house of worship; around it, first, the hospice, where hospitality would be dispensed, perhaps to the weary traveler, perhaps to one who is temporarily out of work, or to one in need of shelter for a time; next, the hospital, wherein the physicians would minister unto the sick and needy, using both types of healing, serving the poor from a free dispensary; then, a home for the aged, a home for the orphans, and a home for the cripples and incurables; then, a school for the children and a great university for the higher branches of learning.
Every child would be educated in an art or craft or trade or profession, boys and girls alike, for all Bahá'is are taught the dignity of labor, and that work pursued in the spirit of service is acceptable as prayer and worship, in this new day. Those who serve in this great and beautiful community center, would first enter the house of worship, lift up their hearts to God in any manner they desire, and then, inspired and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, they would go forth into these other institutions and serve all who come, regardless of color, class or creed.
Such a plan would seem to appeal to the enlightened psychologist as offering an ideal pattern for normal activity–the individual trained to work joyously and intelligently for the good of the group, thereby gaining
his own satisfaction and happiness. Psychology teaches that emotional impulse must find its legitimate outlet if life is to be normal and happy. To the Bahá’is, this plan of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár appears to be a superb plan of unifying social service for, with the Spirit—God—at the center, and Humanity at the circumference, the circle is complete.
To sum it up, this is what the Bahá’is mean by religion—the love of God, expressed in purity of individual life and deeds of joyous service to all mankind.
Dr. Adler closes his book, ”Understanding Human Nature,” with these words: “The law of psychic development seems to us to be irrefutable. It is the most important indicator to any human being who
wishes to build up his destiny consciously and openly, rather than to allow himself to be the victim of dark and mysterious tendencies. These researches are experiments in the science of human nature, a science which cannot otherwise be taught or cultivated. The understanding of human nature seems to us indispensable to every man, and the study of its science, the most important activity of the human mind.”
Since the human science and real religion both operate in the “realm of minds, hearts and spirits,” may we not justly make a plea for their conscious and definite cooperation, believing that in thus working together hand in hand they may be able to transmute this science into the “divine art of living.”
IN the old days, a page carried one’s red velvet cushion and another page carried one’s book; and one knelt devoutly in the heliotrope fog of some cathedral. A king wore his favorite saints pinned to his hat, and bowed to them when times were bad. The poor could worship Mary the Madonna when she came to them in dreams, and day and night the cloister bells tolled regiments of cowled figures to their prayers. Prayer was as usual as bread.
Perhaps today muezzins lean from minarets and priests still bless the holy wafers and the wine, but prayer has lost its savor and the
majority of people pray because it is a habit or else do not pray at all.
Our intelligentsia assure us that prayer is an aberration, something on the order of talking to oneself; and our fashionables remember that they did not get their little slam when they prayed for it at bridge; and if sorrow forces men to pray, they pray in doubt, and desperately, and they take Providence with a grain of salt.
To Bahá’is, however, prayer is “indispensable and obligatory, and no one is excused therefrom, unless he be mentally unsound or an insurmountable obstacle prevent him,” according to the Bahá’i
teachings. This law is great glad tidings—it is one of the most fruitful blessings ever conferred on humanity; and an investigation of even a handful of the wisdoms of prayer can only increase our amazement.
THE SECRET OF LIFE is detachment from everything except God. This is because there is a quality in human nature which imperiously demands something permanent to love and work for, and only God is permanent.
We go through life hitching our wagons to stars that fall; whereupon we are miserable, and lasso the next ones. Our leaves shrivel, our moons wane, the marbles we build our statues of are crumbled. Only God is always strong, always there, always permanent. Only God is worthy to be worked for.
And to achieve this detachment from everything except God we require prayer. His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh says:
“O Son of Light! Forget all else but Me and commune with My spirit. This is the essence of My command, turn unto it.”
Again, the desire to be understood is common to us all. And yet no one understands us. We do not understand ourselves. We all know what we mean by being “understood” but the term is hard to define. In fact, it means just the opposite of what it says, because certainly none of us wish to be seen through.
Who has not heard some middle aged man lament that his wife does not “understand” him. Probably he is trying to say that she does not sympathize with his spats and his
new green neck-tie and his smile.
A noted writer has said that human beings are each on individual islands, shouting to each other across seas of misunderstandings. But prayer is a great simplifying factor and a dispeller of confusion. Through our communion with God we become explained to ourselves and enabled to express our best and truest selves to others.
There are, too, a great many people who have no courage to keep on living, because they are weighted with the consciousness of having sinned. Their life becomes a retrogression, and they stay at home with their sorrow—why should they attempt anything, when everything they touch is tainted, and they are doomed to spend eternity sizzling in separate vats? They are afraid of the justice of God, and they have forgotten the ocean of His mercy (an infinite, sunlit, peaceful ocean, with waves curling jade and pistachio). They have not read the Glad Tidings of Bahá’u’lláh, and the prayer which He has revealed for those who have sinned.
Here again the vital importance of prayer is demonstrated because it is primarily through prayer alone that human beings may recover from wrong-doing. And as for avoiding wrong-doing, mere discipline is not enough; we need the courage and faith engendered by prayer. This is true because although we know right from wrong we often drift into sin and repent at leisure, unless we are held in check by daily prayer; also because it is impossible and indeed undesirable for us to be forever spying on ourselves—people are as mistaken in their mental hair-shirts as any
fanatics of the middle ages, and we therefore need the guidance of God, which is obtainable in proportion to our prayerful receptiveness.
Benjamin Franklin kept a notebook with all his sins in it, but Confucius said, “I can do as my heart lusteth and never swerve from right.” That is, we should learn to do right naturally, as rain falls or dew forms, and such spontaneity becomes possible only after a life inspired by prayer and supplication.
THEN THERE IS the question, “To
Whom shall we pray?” Nations
have prayed to the souls of their ancestors,
to stones or stars or sacred
cattle. Many of our modern thinkers
pray to some exalted figment of
their own imaginations, which, however
grandiose in appearance is obviously
no more God the Creator
than is the church artist’s depiction
of some middle-aged gentleman
in a pink robe. Obviously the
fact God precludes attainment by
any stretch of our finite intellects.
We must therefore pray to the attributes
of God in their fullest and
most clearly represented form—we
must seek them in His highest creation-man.
And among men, we
must turn, if we seek God, to the
most perfect man—His Manifestation.
It is undeniable that the beauties of God appear in every phase of creation—in comets or fishes or little hairy palm trees. But Nature only mumbles—Man speaks. And so, although we may announce that we have found God in a twig on in the curve of the horizon, it is only in His great World Teachers that we see Him clearly and indisputably
mirrored. Without His Manifestations, God is lost to us,—“And idle is the rumor of the rose.”
The desire to pray is, like everything else, strengthened with practice and atrophied through disuse. In the latter case, people are forever restless and longing for something and dissatisfied with every new possession. But if one prays, one is always refreshed and reinterested. ’Abdu’l-Bahá says, “When a man turns his face to God, he finds sunshine everywhere.”
And yet people inquire why they should pray, why God does not come to them,—remarks as logical as sitting in a darkened room and wondering why all the sweep and glitter of the summer sunlight does not penetrate.
And if, as often happens, people are longing for God, trying to pray and yet not succeeding, they will easily find Him through service in accordance with the dictates of His Manifestations. The very prayer impulse proves the prayer-Answerer, just as hunger proves food.
It is not surprising that a prayerless people are driven to drugs and stimulants and a hundred forms of useless activity. They have no antidote for life, and no effective means of achieving the “respite and nepenthe” for which they long. It is not surprising that people cheat one another, desert one another, kill one another, because only universal prayer can make the world safe for us to live in.
No doubt future generations will look back at this prayerless age with the same uneasiness with which we contemplate the unwashed courtiers of Queen Elizabeth.
“Every age requires a central impetus or movement. In this age, the boundaries of terrestrial things have expanded; minds have taken on a broader range of vision; realities have been unfolded and the secrets of being have been brought into the realm of visibility. What is the spirit of this age? What is its focal point? It is the establishment of Universal Peace, the establishment of the knowledge that humanity is one family.” These were the Words of ’Abdu’l-Bahá in an address at Clifton, England, in January, 1913.
- My prayer, my longing wish is this:
- To make my land, so dear to me,
- so dear,
- The peer of all the nations of the
- world,
- That she may harbor in her heart
- the good,
- Leaving untouched the evil,-this
- my prayer.
THE above is a free rendering of one of the late Emperor Meiji’s many poems.
Significant of the new age in Japan, is the name “Showa,” or “Bright Peace,” given to the new era which began with the accession of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Hirohito. The present year is thus known as Showa 4.
Most impressive in Japan today is the tremendous work of reconstruction which has gone forward daily since the great catastrophe—the earthquake of 1923. In place of destruction, already modern cities have been built up. Especially noteworthy is the progress of the press. Its beautiful plants, and wonderful circulations exceeding that of most countries, as well as the great advancement in machine production, has amazed recent visitors to Japan who represented some of the leading newspapers of America. This modern Japan has been called a country of light because of the rapid extension of electricity to all parts of the Empire.
Together with the material reconstruction, a spiritual change is taking place in Japan. Last year in June in commemoration of the Enthronement Ceremonies of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, there was held in Tokyo a Japanese Religious Conference. From the prospectus of the Conference the following is taken:
“Japan has an historic record of the creation of a new culture through the cooperation of three religions, namely Shintoism, Confucianism and Buddhism under the patronage and the guidance of Prince Shotoku. The history of religions in this country is unique in its display of a magnanimous spirit of one religion toward another . . . Buddhism, the glory of oriental civilization has attained its highest development in this country; and Christianity, the ground work of western civilization, has also found its way into almost all classes of Japanese people. Moreover, Shintoism, the crystallization of the most tolerant and sacred national spirit, has always furnished all foreign creeds a home in which to live together harmoniously. Let us fully recognize the above situation and wake up to the possibility of creating a new culture therefrom which may perhaps save the whole of mankind from groaning and waiting for the rebirth of the whole world.”
On the opening day of the Conference fourteen hundred persons gathered including Shinotists, Buddhists, Christians and others. The members were divided into four sections consisting of Thought, Peace, Education, and Social Problem Sections. The second day, a dinner party was held where a wonderful spirit of brotherly love was felt. The presiding officer, Rev. Kozaki, spoke of the Parliament of Religions, convened in Chicago in 1893, which he had attended and told how he had since witnessed the development of the spirit of cooperation of all religions both in Japan and the world at large. He was followed by speakers representing various creeds and organizations, all of whom praised the Conference as a great and signal success. Among the speakers were three foreigners, a Christian Minister from Canada, a German Minister resident of Tokyo, and an American lady* representing the Bahá’i Movement whose words were received with enthusiasm. From the Conference greetings were sent to religious associations throughout the world. In reply to his greeting, Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’i Cause, expressed keen interest in the work of the Association and the assurance of his hope for its success.
One of the movements of this age which is as a key to unlock the thoughts of the Orient to the Occident—the universal auxiliary language Esperanto—is firmly rooted in Japan, where it has been ardently received, not only by students, but
* Miss Agnes Alexander, Bahá’i teacher residing in Tokyo.
--PHOTO--
Miss Alexander in her library in Tokyo
by professors and business men. The Japanese monthly Esperanto organ, “La Orienta Revuo,” has over two thousand subscribers. Through the means of the radio last December, Esperanto lessons were given for twenty nights and the listeners were estimated to be about ten thousand. Esperanto is also spread among the blind who have an association. They have published in Braille an Esperanto book of the Bahá’i Teachings.
At the second Esperanto oratorical meeting of medical and pharmacy students held in Tokyo on February 9th, young women, from a Woman’s Medical College for the first time took part with the young men.*
SOME YEARS AGO President Roosevelt
said,” The Pacific era, destined
to be the greatest of all, and to bring
the whole human race into one great
comity of nations, is just at the
dawn.” This fact was emphasized
at a meeting of the Pan-Pacific Club
* The story of the spread of Esperanto in this Woman’s College, the readers will find under the title, “How We became Esperantists,” by the Japanese twin sisters.
of Tokyo. The speakers, Mr. Setsuzo Sawada, counsellor of the Japanese Embassy in Washington, and Prof. G. V. Blue, who holds the chair of oriental history in the University of Oregon, spoke of the differences in nations as being aids to friendship. “Without these differences in culture,” said Prof. Blue, “the nations of the world would stagnate. Over the oceans go streams of commerce, but more important are the exchanges of thought which take place along these routes.”
It was through the inspiration of Emperor Meiji as expressed in the Japanese Imperial Rescript, “Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world,” that Japan owes much in its national culture to influences received from other countries. In absorbing these cultures from abroad, Japan has made them her own and today has a world influence in matters of trade, art and the circulation of ideas. Abdu’l-Bahá made this statement in His book, “Mysterious Forces of Civilization,” “A few years ago Japan opened her eyes and studied the methods of progress and civilization of the present day. She encouraged the development of the sciences and common handicrafts, and strove with all her power and capacity to improve her position until she attracted to herself the attention of the whole of humanity.”
That there is a thirst among the youth of Japan for the realities of life is an obvious fact. A writer in the Nineteenth Century magazine, under the heading, “Christianity and Young Japan,” says that Shintoism and Buddhism have become empty frames from which the life and color of the pictures have
faded. The Japanese students. “reaching out and grasping nothing that can touch their modern intelligence, assume that neither they nor their countrymen have any desire for religion, when all that is lacking is something to satisfy a real desire.” He writes that, like young men in many lands and many ages they demand a new religion. In the Tablet of Ishráqát by Baha’u’lláh are the words: “Religion is a brilliant light and a strong fortress for the protection and comfort of the people of the world. If the lamp of religion remains veiled, chaos will take place, and the luminary of justice and of equity and the sun of rest and security will be deprived of light.”
On the 22nd of May there were presented to His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan, seven specially bound volumes of Bahá'i books which had been sent in the name of Bahá’i ladies of America, and were intended as a gift in commemoration of the Coronation. Accompanying the books were the following words from Shoghi Effendi: “May the perusal of Bahá’i literature enable Your Imperial Majesty to appreciate the sublimity and penetrative power of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation and inspire you on this auspicious occasion to arise for its worldwide recognition and triumph.“
In the Tablets of ’Abdu’l-Bahá* are these words: “Japan hath made wonderful progress in material civilization, but she will become perfect when she also becometh spiritually developed and the power of the Kingdom becometh manifest in her.”
* Volume 3, p. 564.
The readers will doubtless enjoy the following article with its quaint and naive style. It was written in Esperanto and freely translated into English by Miss Agnes B. Alexander.
IN order to present ourselves in a friendly way, we will write about ourselves, although it may weary you readers. We are twin sisters. Until we reached 16 years of age, we grew under the care of a dear mother, who was a very strong endeavorer on every side in spite of many difficulties and who very much desired to educate us both as doctors. Unfortunately, when we were in the highest class of the girl’s high school, she died. Our father died four years after the death of our mother before we could sufficiently understand him.
After the death of our mother, our elder brother, to whom we feel limitless esteem and who is very good, whom one seldom finds in the world, we think, has the unique pleasure to educate us both as women doctors in the place of our parents.
Thanks to our parents and our brother and his wife, we both like from inheritance or instinctively natural science. Our brother has had us educated quite internationally. When we reached twelve years of age, by his urgent counsel we began to learn English in a Christian church under the guidance of an American teacher, from the commencement by the spoken method.
At the present time we are students of a woman’s medical college
(Teikoku Josi Igaku Senmon Gakko), in Omori, a suburb of Tokyo. The school was recently founded, just when we wished to become medical students, after graduating from a girl’s high school, therefore we are the first students of the school. Amongst us students there is abundance of fresh air.
The school was founded by two brothers, Drs. Nukada, who are famous authorities in the present medical world. To explain in detail, they were always interested in education. At the time of the fearful earthquake in 1923 they firmly decided that they would immediately found a woman’s medical school, taking a year for the work, as they, thanks to God, had not lost much. But why did they choose a woman’s medical college? The motive was as follows: First, they had unhappily grown up by the hand of a mother only because of the death of their father in their infancy, and secondly, they had always believed that for the progress of medical hygiene it was necessary for efficiency to awaken the service of woman. Therefore, to the memory of, and in return for the good they had received from their mother, they founded the college.
Our school consists of two departments, medicine and pharmacy. It gives the students fundamental knowledge, practical knowledge
and knowledge of methods of investigation in medicine and pharmacy.
Three years ago, when we were studying fundamental medicine, we were taught anatomy by a professor who was an Esperantist and always wore a green star on his breast. Although we did not know then what the green star signified, somehow it drew our attention when the professor would appear in the auditorium to give the anatomy lesson. When we had opportunity, in the early summer, to hear about the star and Esperanto from the professor, after asking questions about the star we suddenly remembered the words of our brother, who would enthusiastically speak to us when we were yet young, that, “You must learn Esperanto if you have time when you grow up and enter the high school.” At the time we were occupied in the study of many lessons of medicine and longed for the coming of the long summer vacation. We were accustomed to passing a part of the summer holidays in the library and the other part at the seaside with our brother and his wife.
When the longed-for vacation commenced, immediately we visited the library. We read as many books as possible about Esperanto. Thanks to God, after three days we had a knowledge of Esperanto and the construction of the language. We did not at all feel wearied in our reading. On the way to our home from the library we bought a small book and a dictionary. The following day, carrying a parcel in the corner of which we put the two books we had bought
the day before, we went to the seashore to avoid the great heat of the city with our brother and his wife. There we read the little book in an arbor where the cool sea breezes came through the dense trees. It was very quiet, only the song of little birds and the chikado was heard. When we went out to the sea beach with our younger brother to swim, fish, or sail, we took with us the book in a rubber handbag. After the fatigue of swimming we would lay on the warm sand and read with pleasure the book. When we had finished reading the book we began practicing making sentences. Although we were not yet skillful in writing Esperanto, after two weeks at the seashore we wrote with difficulty our hearty thanks in Esperanto to the anatomy professor, who had turned our attention to Esperanto. In reply, we received a long letter in Esperanto, written by a very skillful Esperantist, a friend of the professor, who was ill after returning from a trip to China. We read the reply with great effort with the help of a small dictionary. Certainly it made us more keen in learning the dear language. From then until the present time, whenever we have time we study more deeply Esperanto. Unfortunately we have less and less time because of many occupations.
Now we will write something about the progress and state of Esperanto in our school. After the commencement of the new school semester, we spoke about Esperanto to our classmates. Although we had not yet attained sufficient alertness to guide them, yet by the help of the professor we
guided 40 classmates with great hope for one hour four times a week. The course lasted two months. It caused the appearance of some ardent Esperantists. Year after year the anatomy professor and other Esperantist lecturers have unselfishly dedicated themselves with tireless effort to the Esperanto course whose members consist of voluntary students and lecturers. Year after year increasing in numbers now is built up a strong Esperanto group called “Minerva Rondo.”
At the present time one cannot say that in Japan as in other lands,
the International Language Esperanto is used as a practical means of communication, we natural scientists study many languages, although only technical words and phrases. We natural scientists are not those people who amuse themselves with much knowledge in foreign languages, but we have a firm opinion about language. Therefore we emphasize the following: The study of our dear language Esperanto is one of the necessary obligations of natural scientists for the good of science culture in the world. In conclusion, we heartily thank the readers of our long, awkward writing.
ONE of the most significant signs of the New Age is the increasing interest manifested all over the world in the subject of calendar simplification. Consideration of this vitally interesting matter assumed somewhat of an organized and concrete form—that is, a definite plan for the investigation and study of the subject—when the League of Nations, through its proper officials, invited the various countries of the world to organize National Committees for the purpose of studying the reform of the calendar and to report back all useful information.
Just what the United States is doing in this matter is fully set
forth in the “Report of the National Committee on Calendar Simplification for the United States, submitted to the Secretary of State, Washington, August, 1929,” a copy of which was kindly sent to us by Mr. George Eastman, Chairman of the Committee.
As stated in the report, the Committee “was organized at Washington on July 9, 1928 to study the question of improving the calendar.
“To make a comprehensive investigation of the prevailing sentiment on the question in this country, and
“To report its conclusions to the Secretary of State for his use in replying to a request of the League
of Nations for information desired by the League with a view to calling an International Conference to adopt a convention for the reform of the calendar.
“The Committee is composed of representatives from civil life and from the following Federal departments, unofficially cooperating: Commerce, Agriculture, Treasury, Interior, Navy, Labor and the Interstate Commerce Commission.”
The reason for the absence of representation of the religions on the Committee is very satisfactorily explained in these words:
”At the outset the Committee desired representation of the religions in its organization, but recognized and found difficulty in securing comprehensive representation of all faiths, and as it was obviously undesirable that the religions should be only partly represented, religious bodies are not identified with its membership.”
After a year of investigation and study the Committee’s conclusions, as printed in their report, stress three requisite conditions which justify the participation in an International Conference, namely,
1. “The prevalence of a demand for calendar improvement on the part of a large and representative body of American opinion.
2. “A growing recognition by the general public of the grave defects of the present calendar, a lively interest in the methods by which these can be overcome, and an intelligent understanding of the principles of calendar reform.
3. “The actual experience of many business concerns with the use of private simplified calendars
to secure more accurate accounting in their business affairs, and their practically unanimous judgment in favor of the general simplification of the civil calendar.”
The report is full of interesting details; it gives a comprehensive presentation of facts, statistics, and much reliable information of one kind or another; the whole treatise a very illuminating contribution which might well be used as a handbook by investigators, students and scholars, for, as stated in the report, “Both in individual life and among all the processes of civilization, simplification of the calendar would afford relief from unnecessary effort and, thereby, contribute to making our lives easier and happier. It would afford more time for leisure and reflection, and facilitate the conduct of all human affairs.” The hope is expressed that an International Conference will soon be assembled to consider this question of calendar simplification.
BAHA'IS OF COURSE are extremely interested in any discussion of the subject of calendar reform, for the Báb, Who preceded–(as a Herald)–the Advent of Bahá’u’lláh the Founder of the Bahá’i religion–the universal religion of this day—inaugurated a new calendar; and as a result the Bahá’is all over the world have been conforming to this calendar in the observance of their Feast Days. Also the Bahá’i New Year is celebrated on March 21st.
Dr. J. E. Esslemont in his book, “Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era,” gives this comprehensive statement about the Bahá’i calendar:
“Among different peoples and at different. times many different
methods have been adopted for the measurement of time and fixing of dates, and several different calendars are still in daily use, e.g. the Gregorian in Western Europe, the Julian in many countries of Eastern Europe, the Hebrew among the Jews, and the Muhammadan in Muslim communities.
“The Báb signalized the importance of the dispensation which He came to herald, by inaugurating a new calendar. In this, as in the Gregorian Calendar, the lunar month is abandoned and the solar year is adopted.
“The Bahá’i year consists of nineteen months of nineteen days each (i. e., 361 days), with the addition of certain “Intercalary Days” (four in ordinary and five in leap years) between the eighteenth and nineteenth months in order to adjust the calendar to the solar year. The Báb named the months after the attributes of God. The Bahá'i New Year, like the ancient Persian New Year, is astronomically fixed, commencing at the March equinox (March 21st), and the Bahá’i era commences with the year of the Báb’s declaration, (i. e. 1844 A. D., 1260 A. H.).
“In the not far distant future it will be necessary that all peoples in the world agree on a common calendar.
“It seems, therefore, fitting that the New Age of Unity should have a new calendar free from the objections and associations which
make each of the older calendars unacceptable to large sections of the world’s population, and it is difficult to see how any other arrangement could exceed in simplicity and convenience that proposed by the Báb.”
And so pondering over the decisive steps now being taken along the line of calendar reform, we see another evidence of how the Word of a Prophet of God “does not return unto Him void.”
“When the Holy, Divine Manifestations or Prophets appear in the world,” says ’Abdu’l-Bahá, “a cycle of radiance an age of mercy dawns. Minds, hearts and all human forces are reformed, perceptions are quickened, sciences, discoveries and investigations are stimulated afresh and everything appertaining to the virtues of the human world is re-vitalized. Consider this present century of radiance and compare it with past centuries. What a vast difference exists between them! How minds have developed! How perceptions have deepened! How discoveries have increased! What great projects have been accomplished! How many realities have become manifest! How many mysteries of creation have been probed and penetrated! What is the cause of this? It is through the efficacy of the Spiritual Springtime in which we are living. Day by day the world attains a new bounty.”
"Gradually whatsoever is latent in the innermost of this Holy Cycle shall appear and be made manifest, for now is but the beginning of its growth and the dayspring of the revelation of its Signs. Ere the close of this Century and of this Age, it shall be made clear and manifest how wondrous was that Springtide and how heavenly was that Gift!”
- Long years ago great castles ’rose; stone walls
- Were thick, and moats were deep; the guards that paced
- The parapets (as history recalls)
- Were proofs of lurking foes each baron faced.
- Yet worse than they, and subtler far for wrong,
- Are thoughts that creep towards fortress of man’s mind,
- Bent to assail it’s mystic walls so strong,
- And yet (without a guard) so weak they find.
- If ent’ring, havoc do these robbers wreak!
- What chests of virtue’s jewels spoil! and vain
- The pleading tones of helpless beauty speak
- To brutes that revel in her cries, and pain.
- Man’s ego fights (ferocious robber chief)
- The self to hold, for ransom of a thief.
- Man’s spirit soars, when helped by Thee in Love:
- And from the mountain-tops of consciousness,
- Would still yearn upward toward the worlds above—
- The while new thoughts amazing themes confess,
- Of two premises and a sure conclusion—
- (Eyes turned from gazing at the distant stars;
- Thoughts back over the years of dark confusion)
- That ancient pleasures were but livid scars
- Across the Face of Truth: or were deep valleys,
- Low-sunk between the rolling, snow-clad peaks,
- From which the lone gray wolf’s gaunt hunger sallies,
- And from a lesser strength it’s sating seeks.
- Thus does a nobler sight look back, to mourn
- The thing ill-done, by which the heart is torn.
- Thankful the hearts, O God! for this Thy Day!
- When Time doth call to her companion hours,
- “Unlock the Gate, a friend is on the Way!”
- Fragrant the garden, perfumed with flowers;
- Chaste are it’s fruits, that are pure spirit’s pleasure–
- Rejoicing those whose inner sight doth see;
- Whose trials lived through and testings borne, they treasure
- The glory of the goal laid down by Thee.
- How sordid is the world! it’s aims, how low!
- Thy heavens through all bounds sweep grandly on!
- A million light-years hence Thy bright stars glow!
- Shall praying man e’er find Thy Power gone?
- Nay, all shall see Thy promise kept, forsooth,
- Who from the dust made man, and taught him Truth.
